Tesla Roadster turns 12.64 sec. at Pacific Raceways dragstrip
August 18, 4:02 PMSeattle Sports Car ExaminerRonald Robbins
A Tesla Roadster Sport turned in a 12.64 1/4 mile time at Pacific Raceway near Seattle; that’s 102 mph at the far end! James Morrison's Roadster was one of four on the track at Pacific Raceways, Friday night, August 7th; here's the action on YouTube.
The Tesla Roadster is powered by an 75-volt AC air-cooled motor putting out 248 hp and 276 ft\lbs of torque; this means you can hit 60 mph in about 4 seconds and 125 mph for a top speed. The battery pack is Lithium ion, the same batteries that power cell phones, laptops, and just about any other electronic device.
The Tesla set a National Electric Drag Racing Association record for the quarter mile, with 12.64 and 12.71 runs at Wayland Invitational IV. Morrison writes, "Scotty is a lightweight (135 lbs) professional driver/rider. I let him do two runs in the Tesla Roadster Sport and he promptly set the new records."
Morrison owns a blog, "Peak Oil Garage" where he has posted two videos of the drag races and several other Roadster videos. On his blog, Morrison says, "For a guy who has been driving a Prius since 2005, this is just about the coolest car ever."
The Roadster takes about 10 hrs to recharge with a 32 amp charging current, and has 200+ mile range. There are four charge settings for different possible uses, Storage, Standard, Range, and Performance. Range and Performance are special temporary settings used for specific purposes. Range limits the Roadster's power by 50% to get the maximum miles possible for the charge, and Performance charges the cells to their maximum to provide the most power available. For more information on the Tesla Motors showroom coming to Seattle see this story.
Scott Ferguson was also at Pacific Raceways and has an album of pictures and videos of the Teslas at the dragstrip.
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